Sébastien Bourdais will drive a Scuderia Toro Rosso F1 car during the team's scheduled three day test at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit in Spain, which kicks off tomorrow, the Italian Formula 1 outfit has announced. The 27 year old Frenchman has won the US-based Champ Car series for the past three years.

His test with Scuderia Toro Rosso has been endorsed by the Newman Haas team with whom, STR report, that Sébastien Bourdais wants to defend his Champ Car title in 2007. However the timing of his Formula 1 test has led to much media speculation in recent days that he could replace current STR pilot Scott Speed in the team for next year, particularly as the American hasn't set the F1 world alight since his arrival.

Born into a motor racing family, Sébastien Bourdais competed in karts before moving onto single seaters, and finishing second in the 1996 Formula Renault Campus season. The next year he stepped up to French Formula 3 and won five races on his way to the "Rookie of the Year" title. In 1999 he won the French F3 title outright with eight wins, and also made his Le Mans debut at the wheel of a Porsche 911. The next year he stepped up to the International F3000 Championship with the Prost Junior team; however it would be another year before he climbed back onto the winners step of the podium (now driving for DAMS) and in 2002 he was awarded the title after Tomas Enge failed a drugs test.
 

Bourdais then followed a path chosen by many F3000 drivers by crossing the Atlantic to take part in the 2003 Champ Car series; joining the Newman-Haas team, and becoming the first rookie since Nigel Mansell to take pole position at his very first race (at St. Petersburg, Florida). He then won his first Champ Car race at only his fourth attempt (Brands Hatch) and by the end of his maiden season he had another win under his belt as he claimed the "Rookie of the Year" title and fourth place overall in the championship's final standings. The next year Bourdais dominated the Champ Car series, beating his own Newman-Haas team mate to the title by 28 points after claiming seven wins and eight pole positions, and finishing on the podium in 10 of the 14 races while never qualifying out of the top three.

A second straight Champ Car title came last year, but only after a slow start to the season was rectified by the Frenchman winning five of the last six races of the season. He also took part at Indianapolis for the first time and won his first stock car race. This year Bourdais made it a hat trick of Champ Car titles, getting his winning season off to a fine start with four back-to-back wins.